title: Difficulties in physical functioning reported by middle-aged and elderly women with breast cancer: a case-control comparison.
abstract: Levels of physical functioning reported by women aged 55 to 84 with incident breast cancer were compared to those reported by women of the same age without the disease. A total of 422 breast cancer patients, identified through the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System, were interviewed 3 and 12 months after diagnosis. Interviews with 478 controls of the same age, identified through telephone random-digit dialing, were conducted twice during the same time period. At 3 months, patients aged 55-64 and 65-74 reported greater difficulty than controls in completing tasks requiring upper-body strength. Little difference was shown between cases and controls aged 75 to 84. After one year, patients aged 65-74 still reported higher than expected levels of difficulty in light lifting as well as pushing and lifting heavy objects. Among cases aged 55-64, only pushing and lifting heavy objects remained problematic. Estimates of the prevalence of physical difficulty will be useful in planning future breast cancer treatment and rehabilitation services.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Satariano
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Ragheb
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Branch
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Swanson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement